Senior leadership was a key component for the Douglas High boys basketball team this winter.

And a large part of that was the quartet of Tre Jackson, Ryan Barnes, Josh Meza and Dalton Davis who received all-Sierra League recognition and helped the Tigers finish on an upbeat note on their way to a postseason berth.

"I was proud of our kids; they never gave up and that was the biggest thing as far as the season was concerned," coach Corey Thacker said. "We peaked at the right time, that's for sure. It was fun to see the improvement and how much better they got."

Douglas (9-18 overall, 8-8 league) ended its regular season with a four-game win streak, capped by wins over league champion Galena (61-54) and second-place Carson (50-48).

Jackson was voted to the all-league first-team for the second straight year, Barnes was named second-team while Meza and Davis received honorable mention recognition. A fifth senior who contributed for the Tigers was point guard Jordan Warren.

Barnes, a 6-2 guard, was the team's second leading scorer (7.9 average) and leading 3-point shooter (45-for-132) this season.

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"I was proud of Ryan. He went from being a role player last year to one of our starters and one of our better players as a senior," Thacker said. "He's a streaky shooter. When you're not hitting them as a shooter, you have to find ways to score and he started finding ways to score. He made our team better, even when he wasn't scoring. And he improved his defense, big-time; that's what really made him a better player."

Though only 6-1, Meza was a post player whose contributions to the Tigers loomed large, especially after being sidelined four games in December.

"I think that made him a better player because he saw (from the bench) what we were missing," Thacker said. "When he came back, he really contributed for us. He became a coach on the floor and I think he gave other teams matchup problems. Because he was a post, he had to guard posts and other posts had to guard him and he's pretty athletic and pretty quick … he was able to attack the rim and get to the foul line a lot."

Meza, a threat both inside and outside, enjoyed his best offensive performance in the Senior Night win against Carson when he scored a career-high 17 points.

Davis, a 6-3 forward who has committed to play basketball at Franciscan University (Stubenville, Ohio), was a key presence for the Tigers throughout the season on offense, defense and underneath the glass. He averaged 7.7 points per game.

The Tigers had one stretch in the middle of their Sierra League schedule between Jan. 20-27 when they absorbed three straight heart-breaking losses — 47-38 in overtime at home to Galena, 45-41 at Carson and 51-45 at home against Bishop Manogue.

"We ended 4-1 playing everybody (Sierra League) the second time around," Thacker said. "Our only loss was to Manogue, and we could have won that one, too. We had a rough preseason, 2-4 against the High Desert division. There were some close games there that we shouldn't have lost, too. I mean, we had some close ones, which our kids learned from and got better."